Apparatus for use in coating process

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for use in a coating process includes a chamber, a crucible configured to hold a coating material in the chamber, an energy source operable to heat the interior of the chamber, a coating envelope situated with respect to the crucible, and at least one gas manifold located near the coating envelope. The at least one gas manifold is configured to provide a gas screen between the coating envelope and the crucible.

CROSS-SECTION TO RELATED APPLICATION

This disclosure is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/109,884 filed Jul. 6, 2016.

BACKGROUND

This disclosure relates to a coating process and equipment therefor.

Physical vapor deposition (“PVD”) is one common method for depositing acoating, such as a metallic coating or a ceramic coating, on asubstrate. One type of PVD process utilizes an electron beam gun to meltand evaporate a source coating material contained within a crucible. Theevaporated source material condenses and deposits onto the substrate.

SUMMARY

An apparatus according to an example of the present disclosure, for usein a coating process, includes a chamber, a crucible configured to holda coating material in the chamber, an energy source operable to heat theinterior of the chamber, a coating envelope situated with respect to thecrucible, and at least one gas manifold located near the coatingenvelope, the at least one gas manifold being configured to provide agas screen between the coating envelope and the crucible.

In a further example of any of the examples herein, the coating envelopeis within a hood within the chamber, the hood including a wall thatextends partially around an interior region in which the coatingenvelope is located, and the at least one gas manifold is within theinterior region of the hood adjacent the coating envelope.

In a further example of any of the examples herein, the at least one gasmanifold includes first and second gas manifolds arranged on opposedsides of the coating envelope.

In a further example of any of the examples herein, the at least one gasmanifold includes a hollow tube having a plurality of apertures arrangedalong a side thereof, the plurality of apertures being directed towardthe coating envelope.

In a further example of any of the examples herein, the coating envelopeand the at least one gas manifold are vertically above the crucible, andfurther comprising at least one additional gas manifold located belowthe crucible.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The various features and advantages of the present disclosure willbecome apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detaileddescription. The drawings that accompany the detailed description can bebriefly described as follows.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example method for use in a coating process.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example apparatus for conducting the method

FIG. 3 illustrates an example gas manifold for establishing a gas screenin a coating process.

FIG. 4 illustrates a portion within the chamber of the apparatus of FIG.2 during pre-heating.

FIGS. 5 and 6 illustrate a portion within the chamber of the apparatusof FIG. 2 during coating deposition, wherein a supplied gas creates aback-pressure that collimates a coating stream or plume of volatilizedcoating material.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 schematically illustrates an example method 20 for use in acoating process. For example, the method 20 can be used in anelectron-beam physical vapor deposition process that is used to apply acoating to a substrate. The examples herein may be described withreference to the deposition of a ceramic coating onto a substrate, suchas, but not limited to, gas turbine engine airfoils or airfoilmultiplets of a plurality of airfoil vanes. It is to be understood,however, that the examples can also be applied to other coatings, othergas turbine engine components, and non-engine components, particularlywhere premature deposition of a coating during pre-heating may beproblematic.

Physical vapor deposition involves the vaporization of a source coatingmaterial that then condenses onto a substrate. For some types ofsubstrates, an oxide scale (e.g., aluminum oxide) is grown on thesubstrate from an aluminum-containing bond coat prior to and during thedeposition, to ensure bonding of a deposited ceramic topcoat. The oxidescale can be grown in a pre-heating step prior to, and, moresignificantly, also during the deposition, in the same chamber that thedeposition is conducted in. In this regard, the pre-heating can beconducted at an elevated temperature in an oxygen-containing environmentto initiate and sustain oxide scale growth. An additional reason toconduct the pre-heating and coating deposition in the presence of oxygenis to maintain the chemical stoichiometry of the coating. There are alsoadditional or different reasons for using a pre-heating step prior todepositing a coating. For example, the substrate is pre-heated to ensurethat coating deposition is initiated and conducted at a suitabletemperature that ensures adherence of the coating to the substrate afterthe completion of the coating process, as well as during subsequentthermal cycling of the coated part in a gas turbine engine.

The coating material, such as a ceramic material, is also present in thecoating chamber during the pre-heating, in preparation for thesubsequent deposition and so that the process can be conductedefficiently without necessarily having to move the substrate betweendifferent chambers. Although the coating material may be in solid form,the coating material can volatilize, such as by sublimation or bylocalized melting and vaporization, to vapor during the pre-heating andprematurely deposit onto the substrate. The premature deposition canalter the chemistry and microstructure of the thermally grown oxide andthe coating, and can ultimately debit the performance of the component.As will be described herein, the method 20 facilitates the reduction ofpremature deposition.

Referring to FIG. 1 , the method 20 includes pre-heating a substrate 22in the presence of a coating material 24 that is volatile. The term“volatile” refers to the vaporization of the coating material 24 at theselected pre-heating conditions, or to the transformation of at least aportion of the coating material 24 to a state or size that can bereadily transported to and deposited onto the substrate at the selectedpre-heating conditions. During the pre-heating, or a substantial portionthereof, the volatile coating material 24 can be in solid form. Incontrast, at least a substantial portion of the volatile coatingmaterial is in a molten state during the later deposition step. Toisolate, or at least partially isolate, the substrate 22 from prematuredeposition of any volatilized coating material 24, the substrate 22 isshielded during the pre-heating by establishing a gas screen 26 betweenthe substrate 22 and the coating material 24 through increased oxygengas and/or other gas flow.

As shown in FIG. 1 , a portion 28 of the coating material 24 hasvolatilized during the pre-heating. The volatilized coating material 28may travel toward the substrate 22. However, before the volatilizedcoating material 28 can deposit onto the substrate 22, the gas screen 26redirects the volatilized coating material 28, as represented at 28 a,away from the substrate 22, thus avoiding deposition. The gas screen 26thus serves to shield the substrate 22 from premature deposition of thevolatile coating material 24.

In one example, the gas screen 26 is or includes a counter-flow of gasagainst the volatilized coating material 28. That is, the gas screen 26includes one or more gas streams jetted in a direction or multipledirections that have directional components opposite to the direction oftravel of the volatilized coating material 28 toward the substrate 22.In general, the counter-flow direction will be the direction from thesubstrate 22 toward the source or sources of the coating material 24.

The gas screen 26 is, however, not limited to counter-flow gas and canalternatively or additionally include sweep flow, gas pressurescreening, or combinations thereof. In sweep flow, the gas screen 26includes one or more gas streams jetted in a direction or multipledirections that have directional components aligned with a directionalcomponent of the direction of travel of the volatilized coatingmaterial, where the aligned directional components are pointed away fromthe substrate 22. For instance, the gas screen 26 could include ahorizontal (in FIG. 1 ) stream or streams between the substrate 22 andthe coating material 24 that intercept and carry away volatilizedcoating material 28 prior to deposition.

In a gas pressure screening, the gas screen 26 is provided as a gas flowfrom within a partially enclosed local volume around the substrate 22,with at least one open side of the partial local enclosure which isoriented toward the source of the coating material 24. The gas providedfrom within the partial local enclosure increases pressure within thepartial local enclosure relative to the volume outside of the partiallocal enclosure, which results in a locally high pressure region aroundthe substrate 22 and also at the mouth of the open side. The locallyhigh pressure diverts volatilized coating material from entering theopen side of the partial local enclosure and depositing on the substrate22. In the example shown in FIGS. 2 and 4 , the partial local enclosureis a thermal hood 52.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example apparatus 40 that is adapted for carryingout the method 20. The apparatus 40 includes a chamber 42 and a crucible44 that is configured to hold a volatile coating material 24 in thechamber 42. For example, the crucible 44 can be a tray that holdsparticulate of the volatile coating material 24. Alternatively, thecrucible 44 can be adapted to hold and present an ingot of the coatingmaterial 24.

The apparatus 40 further includes an energy source 46 that is operableto heat the interior of the chamber. In this example, the energy source46 includes one or more electron beam guns 46 a and 46 b that areoperable to emit electron beams, represented at B. The electron beams Bcan be scanned across the coating material 24, and/or other heatingtarget, to produce heat in the interior of the chamber 42.Alternatively, in addition to the electron beam guns 46 a and 46 b, theapparatus 40 could have a separate or dedicated heater, such as aheating coil.

A coating envelope 48 is situated with respect to the crucible 44. Thecoating envelope 48 is the region in which the substrate 22 ispositioned in the chamber 42 to apply the coating. The coating envelope48 thus represents a spatial volume where the substrate 22 (orsubstrates 22 if more than one is coated at a time) is located,including spatial volumes that the substrate 22 passes through, ifrotated during coating.

At least one gas manifold 50 is located near the coating envelope 48.The gas manifold 50 is configured to provide the gas screen 26 betweenthe coating envelope 48 and the volatile coating material 24 in thecrucible 44.

In this example, the chamber 42 includes a thermal hood 52, which canalso be referred to as a coater box. The hood 52 includes a wall 54 thatextends partially around an interior region 56 in which the coatingenvelope 48 is located. The gas manifold or manifolds 50 are alsolocated within the interior region 56, adjacent the coating envelope 48.

In this example, the gas manifold 50 includes first and second gasmanifolds 50 a/50 b arranged, respectively, on opposed sides of thecoating envelope 48. A single manifold manifold or additional manifoldsas a set can alternatively be used to control the gas screen 26 asdesired. An example of a representative gas manifold 50 is shown in FIG.3 . The gas manifold 50 includes a hollow tube 58 having a plurality ofapertures 60 that are arranged along a side of the hollow tube 58. Theapertures 60 are directed toward the coating envelope 48. The apertures60 can be arranged circumferentially or peripherally around the tube 58and axially along the length of the tube 58 in order to provide the gasscreen 26, which in this example can fully or substantially fullyenvelop the coating envelope 48 to shield all sides of the substrate 22.

Referring again to FIG. 2 , the apparatus 40 also includes at least onegas manifold 62 near the bottom of the chamber 42. A single gas manifold62 or additional manifolds 62 as a set can alternatively be used. Thegas manifold 50 and the coating envelope 48 are located vertically abovethe crucible 44 and the gas manifold or manifolds 62 is/are locatedbelow the crucible 44. Each of the gas manifolds 50 and 62 can beconnected to one or more gas sources, such as an oxygen-containing gas,which can be pure or substantially pure oxygen. In addition, the gasmanifolds 62 can be connected to other gas sources such as He, Ne, Ar,Kr, Xe or their mixtures. The gas manifolds 50 and 62, or the linesconnecting these to the gas source or sources, can also include one ormore metering valves to control the gas flow into the chamber 42. Inthis regard, the apparatus 40 can further include or be connected with acontroller, represented at C. The controller C can be operably connectedwith any or all of the components of the apparatus 40 to control theoperation thereof. This includes, but is not limited to, any valves,mechanisms to move or rotate the crucible and/or substrate 22, theelectron beam guns 46 a/46 b, a vacuum pump, and any other componentsrelated to the operation of the apparatus 40. In this regard, thecontroller can include hardware, such as a microprocessor, software, ora combination thereof, that is configured to carry out any or all of themethod steps and functions disclosed herein.

The apparatus 40 can be used to apply a ceramic coating to the substrate22, such as a gas turbine engine component, by electron-beam physicalvapor deposition. The coating material 24 can be any ceramic materialthat is desired to be deposited onto the substrate 22. For example, theceramic material can be a zirconium-containing material, such asyttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ), gadolinia-stabilized zirconia (GSZ),or combinations thereof. In particular, the gadolinium-oxide present inGSZ has a relatively high vapor pressure and can readily volatilize andprematurely deposit at temperatures and conditions that are used forpre-heating gas turbine engine components to form oxide scales. Thepre-heating temperature can be 1750-2100° F. (954-1149° C.), but mayvary depending on the chemistry of the substrate or thealuminum-containing bond coat and type of oxide to be grown, forexample. Such pre-heating steps can be conducted at sub-ambientpressures provided by a vacuum pump. The gas screen 26 provided by thegas manifold or manifolds 50 shields the substrate 22 from prematuredeposition, as also shown in FIG. 4 .

In a further example, the pre-heating is conducted in anoxygen-containing environment at a sub-ambient pressure within thechamber 42, in order to grow the oxide scale on the substrate 22. Inthis regard, if an oxygen-containing gas is used for the gas screen 26,the gas screen 26 can serve a dual purpose of shielding the substrate 22and locally providing oxygen for the growth of the oxide scale ormaintaining the chemical stoichiometry of the coating during thedeposition stage.

The gas screen 26 has a shielding strength related to its rate of gasflow. For example, higher rates of gas flow from the gas manifold 50have a greater ability to redirect any volatilized coating material 24away from the substrate 22 to provide a “higher strength” gas screen 26,and vice versa. Thus, the strength of the gas screen 26 can be adjustedthrough adjustment of gas flow rate to the manifold 50. In non-limitingexamples, the gas flow rate can be greater than 500 standard cubiccentimeters per minute (sccm), greater than 750 sccm, or even greaterthan 1000 sccm. The gas flow rate can thus be adjusted in accordancewith a desired shielding strength, which may correspond to flow velocityaround the substrate 22, flow velocity in the counter-flow direction,flow velocity transverse to the deposition direction, gas pressurescreening pressurization, or combinations thereof. Additionally, highermolecular weight gas or a gas mixture with higher average molecularweight can also increase the strength of the gas screen 26.

Upon conclusion of the pre-heating, once a desired temperature ofsubstrate 22 is reached, the shielding strength of the gas screen 26 canbe reduced in preparation for controlled coating deposition. Forinstance, the shielding strength can be reduced to a non-zero flow rateor can be completely terminated such that there is no gas flow from themanifold 50. At least a small amount of gas flow may be desired toprevent deposition over the apertures 60.

Upon reduction in the shielding strength, the ceramic coating can thenbe deposited in a controlled manner onto the substrate 22 by melting andvolatilizing the coating material 24 to form a coating vapor or plumeusing the electron beam guns 46 a/46 b. In this regard, the manifold ormanifolds 62 can be activated to provide a gas flow and additional gaspressure within the chamber 42. The gas flowing through the manifold ormanifolds 62 can be oxygen, or helium or Ne or Ar, Kr or Xe or themixture of thereof. For example, the gas is an oxygen-containing gassupplied to the chamber 42. Referring to FIGS. 4-6 showing a portionwithin the chamber 42 during coating deposition in which the shieldingstrength has been reduced, the gas from the manifold or manifolds 62creates an additional pressure (back-pressure) in the vacuum chamber 42and compresses/collimates the stream or plume, represented at 70, ofvolatilized coating material. The back-pressure does not change theevaporation rate of the coating material 24 but thecompression/collimation of the plume 70 effectively increases the plumedensity. This in turn results in an increase in deposition rate by“focusing” the plume 70 at the substrate 22 and coating envelope 48. Asa comparison, a broader, less dense plume would be produced without suchback-pressure. The approximate relationship between the melt pool size2R₀, gas back-pressure, P_(out), saturated vapor pressure of vaporizedceramics, P_(S), and the resulting effective size of the plume 70 ofvolatilized coating material plume 2R_(max) is

$\frac{R_{{ma}x}}{R_{0}} = ( \frac{P_{S}}{P_{out}} )^{\frac{1}{2\gamma}}$where

˜c_(p)/c_(v)˜1.33. Varying the oxygen flow from the manifolds 50 canproduce turbulence needed to promote deposition on surfaces that arenormally difficult to coat, such as surfaces that are “shadowed” byother portions of the substrate 22 (surfaces out of the line-of-sight tothe melt pool in crucible 44). There is an optimum oxygen flow rate thatis between the minimum flow rate needed to support stoichiometry of thecoating and the maximum flow rate which suppresses the coatingdeposition. Thus, the manifold 50 near the coating envelope 48 initially(during pre-heating) provides a gas flow for establishing the gas screen26 to protect from premature deposition, and during the coating processprovides oxygen supply to keep desired stoichiometry of the coating. Themanifold 62 provides additional back-pressure in the chamber 42 and doesnot participate in providing desired coating chemical composition. Thusany appropriate/non-reactive gas can be used to regulate the shape ofthe vapor plume 70. The pressures (pressure ratios) of manifolds 50 and62 can be adjusted to attain a desired coating speed and desired coatingcomposition. Additional parameters can be controlled to furtherfacilitate deposition on surfaces that are out of the line-of-sight,such as but not limited to using a relatively high pressure environmentfor the deposition step. In any of the examples herein, the pressureduring deposition can be 5×10⁻⁴ torr to 3×10⁻¹ torr, and at least aportion of the pre-heating step can also be carried out in this samepressure range.

In a further example, the relative distance between the manifold 50 andthe coating envelope 48 and between the manifold 62 and the coatingenvelope 48 is controlled in order to ensure proper formations of thegas screen 26. For example, the minimum distance between the coatingenvelope 48 and the manifold 50 is represented at D₁ and the verticaldistance between the manifold 62 and the coating envelope 48 isrepresented at D₂. In one example, D₂ is at least two times greater thanD₁. In a further example, D₂ is at least eight times greater than D₁.

Although a combination of features is shown in the illustrated examples,not all of them need to be combined to realize the benefits of variousembodiments of this disclosure. In other words, a system designedaccording to an embodiment of this disclosure will not necessarilyinclude all of the features shown in any one of the Figures or all ofthe portions schematically shown in the Figures. Moreover, selectedfeatures of one example embodiment may be combined with selectedfeatures of other example embodiments.

The preceding description is exemplary rather than limiting in nature.Variations and modifications to the disclosed examples may becomeapparent to those skilled in the art that do not necessarily depart fromthe essence of this disclosure. The scope of legal protection given tothis disclosure can only be determined by studying the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus for use in a coating process,comprising: a chamber; a crucible configured to hold a coating materialin the chamber; a coating envelope situated with respect to thecrucible; an energy source operable to heat the interior of the chamberand to evaporate the coating material during a coating process such thatvolatilized coating material travels in a coating direction from thecrucible to toward the coating envelope; and at least one gas manifoldlocated near the coating envelope, the at least one gas manifold beingconfigured to provide a gas screen between the coating envelope and thecrucible, the at least one gas manifold including a hollow tube andapertures in the hollow tube that are arranged circumferentially aroundthe hollow tube and axially along the length of the hollow tube, and atleast one of the apertures is aimed in a direction having a directionalcomponent opposite to the coating direction.
 2. The apparatus as recitedin claim 1, wherein the coating envelope is within a hood within thechamber, the hood including a wall that extends partially around aninterior region in which the coating envelope is located, and the atleast one gas manifold is within the interior region of the hoodadjacent the coating envelope.
 3. The apparatus as recited in claim 2,wherein the at least one gas manifold includes first and second gasmanifolds arranged on opposed sides of the coating envelope.
 4. Theapparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein the at least one other one ofthe apertures is directed toward the coating envelope.
 5. The apparatusas recited in claim 1, wherein the coating envelope and the at least onegas manifold are vertically above the crucible, and further comprisingat least one additional gas manifold located below the crucible.
 6. Theapparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein the energy source includes anelectron beam gun.
 7. The apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein atleast one other one of the apertures is aimed in a direction having adirectional component away from the crucible.
 8. The apparatus asrecited in claim 1, wherein the at least one gas manifold is connectedwith a gas source of an oxygen-containing gas.